Again, you are making assumptions here that are invalid. You are talking about service dogs; I am not. Service dogs do save lives, and are immensely important,

Again, you are making assumptions here that are invalid. You are talking about service dogs; I am not. Service dogs do save lives, and are immensely important, but that is explicitly not my point. I am talking about the fact that many pet-owners do gain emotional value and support from animals. Emotional animal support can be extremely effective therapy for humans, but would not count as a service animal. However, I don't think that anyone in their right mind would argue that situation is a function of vanity and/or entertainment. And before you go try and find data: no, there aren't a lot of registered 'therapy animals,' because that is a hot-topic political issue, and people don't differentiate them well from service animals. Not to mention that society continues to think 'mental health problems' are mostly either made-up or to be looked down upon. There not being a lot of registered ones does not mean that the emotional support and stability gained by having a pet does not do absolute wonders from a therapeutic perspective. It has been formalized a bit[1], but has been going on informally for centuries, since animals and humans do form close emotional bonds. [1] https://www.healthline.com/health/pet-therapy https://www.healthline.com/health/pet-therapy